Twitter Updates Rules to Protect Disabled Users from Abuse Online

Twitter has updated it’s wording following a campaign by a disability charity to make reporting hateful comments against disabled people easier.

UK based charity Muscular Dystrophy UK had called for the social media giants to include “disability” as a protected category in the list of other categories. This list previously included “race, religion, gender and orientation” before disability was added.

The company’s official safety account states that “It’s against our rules to directly attack or threaten someone based on their protected category, including disability”.

“Fantastic News”

Nic Bungay, director of campaigns, care and information for the charity, said: “It is fantastic news that Twitter has given disabled people this new tool to report any offensive language they may encounter.”

The charity had first raised the issue with Twitter last year during a public meeting at the London City Hall. They further added to this in February revealing that in a study they had conducted, the results showed that hate-filled language was keeping many disabled users off social media.

Nic Bungay added: “Social media is such a valuable tool for disabled people to take part in everyday conversations, and today’s change will help them to ensure they can do so in a safe way.”

Twitter boss Jack Dorsey revealed last year that the firm would step up and be more “aggressive” in enforcing its rules in an attempt to cut down on extreme and hateful content on the platform.